Conservative pundit Bill Mitchell has been kicked off of Twitter for good, with the controversial Trump fan saying his opposition to face masks did him in. The perma-ban has stoked cries of censorship from voices on the right.
Mitchell announced his ban in a post on Parler on Friday, laying his Twitter handle to rest after accumulating more than 600,000 followers. Earning regular retweets from President Donald Trump, the account was a source of controversy, at times backing ‘QAnon’ conspiracy theories and voicing skepticism toward Covid-19, among other things.
“Twitter just suspended me for opposing masks. Who knows if I’ll ever be back,” Mitchell wrote, adding sarcastically “I’m sure their decision wasn’t political at all.”
Well now we know why Twitter suspended Bill Mitchell's account — pic.twitter.com/13Uw0JtRAA
— Lorean Siller (@Luckylady52) August 15, 2020
While he did not elaborate further on the ban, Mitchell was reportedly first handed a 7-day suspension for a mask-related post, which is believed to have been made permanent after he posted from a secondary account for his media company, YourVoice America. A Twitter spokesperson told Daily Beast political reporter Will Sommer that Mitchell had violated the platform’s rule on “ban evasion,” which bars users from tweeting from alternative accounts once handed a suspension or ban.
Update: According to a Twitter spokesperson, Trump mega-fan Bill Mitchell was suspended for ban evasion.
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) August 14, 2020
I’m told Bill Mitchell first received a 7-day ban for tweets talking about ‘mask dangers,’ then was using a second account to tweet during the ban, and had his main account permanently suspended
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 15, 2020
The high-profile expulsion made waves on social media, sending some outraged conservatives to dub the move “draconian censorship,” even those who said they disagreed with Mitchell’s more contentious views.
I don’t agree with Bill Mitchell on masks, but I also don’t agree with banning one side of a public policy debate
Imagine if people disagreeing with the Surgeon General had been banned in February https://t.co/Y2TZiihG1K
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 15, 2020
How the hell did Bill Mitchell get banned from twitter?
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) August 14, 2020
The fact that Twitter has suspended a Verified Conservative Influencer with a National show like Bill Mitchell is ridiculous..
Everyone has a right to speak, even Alex Jones.. This idiotic Draconian censorship in America MUST END!
— Matt Couch (@RealMattCouch) August 15, 2020
The pundit’s detractors had a different take on the ban, with one blue check celebrating that “one of the very dumbest people on Twitter” was now off the platform, while others compiled a list of ‘greatest hits’ from Mitchell’s handle.
Bill Mitchell was one of the very dumbest people on Twitter, with a brain capable of sending these messages to his fingers to type on his phone pic.twitter.com/wGZURm4y60
— Jesse Hawken (@jessehawken) August 14, 2020
Pour one for Bill Mitchell and one of his greatest hits. pic.twitter.com/ARuHAAB2xy
— ☣Knight of Contagion☣ (@SciOperative) August 15, 2020
For all we know, Bill Mitchell’s Twitter account weeps for us. pic.twitter.com/uRivEvyJ7B
— Adam Perry (@misterperry) August 15, 2020
Mitchell’s wasn’t the only popular account to fall on Friday, as ‘Tatiania McGrath’ was also given a temporary suspension, though the reason remains unclear. The parody persona, who dubs ‘herself’ a “radical intersectionalist poet,” was created by journalist and comedian Andrew Doyle, satirizing social justice activists with deliberately outrageous, but seemingly sincere, hot takes.
Wtaf, @Twitter?! You’ve suspended @TitaniaMcGrath? Perhaps focus on eliminating all the child porn & insane trolls making death threats from your site instead of censoring a hilarious, popular parody account. pic.twitter.com/ZQfbeGiCHY
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) August 14, 2020
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Source: RT